1.1mass nounBehaviour that is considered acceptable or polite to most members of a society.

‘he was an upholder of convention and correct form’

‘the law is felt to express social conventions’

‘But, and there is the rub, every member of the Cabinet is expected by acceptable social convention to then go out and promote and defend what has been pronounced.’

‘Most people err on the side of social convention, clapping politely as the drums pick up where the guitar left them, waiting for the drums to end to clap again while the stand-up bass does its thing.’

‘She loves his madness and his badness; she loves the way he made her feel that the two of them were united against everyone else, against all the things that convention and society demanded of them.’

‘Travellers have every right to pursue an unconventional lifestyle, but they must follow one universal convention: that their behaviour does not impinge on the welfare of their neighbours.’

‘When there is separation from the familiar, when there is escape from the habitual, rules of social convention are not enforceable with the same efficacy as at home.’

‘There are many places where photography is prohibited by law, many other places where it is prohibited by social convention and human decency.’

‘The message is usually loud and clear, but it is also carefully disguised under a layer of polite convention.’

‘They celebrated a man who was scornful of polite convention and showed little interest in being embraced by the great and good.’

‘Dance and body culture converged on the pursuit of ecstasy, joyful release from the constraints of modern society and bourgeois convention.’

‘I can go on and on about our numerous sins, the way we flout laws or conventions or acceptable behaviour without even thinking about it.’

‘It is easy to argue that abuse should be safeguarded against - but no constitution would operate for long unless there were a considerable element of publicly accepted convention.’

‘Is it purely social convention, or is it biological?’

‘Yet their standard of living derives, not from their caring work, but from the social convention that family members share family resources on a more or less equal basis.’

‘The column was both insightful in its full view of an issue, and brave in going against social convention.’

‘These latter qualities are often smothered by social convention and cultural prejudice which converge to constrain us from realising our full potential.’

‘Again and again he defied social convention, often by showing concern for the very people who were normally despised or marginalized by respectable society.’

‘She raised her lips and eyebrows in a coy pout that I couldn't resist, so I broke all known social convention and filled her martini glass with scotch.’

‘Here those favoring the wealthy are following social convention and may even see themselves securing the benefaction of the patron for the church.’

‘If we are not restrained by conventions, traditions or rules we are all capable of grotesque cruelties.’

‘He had a streak of fundamental decency that went far beyond simply observing the convention of the day and I loved him for it.’

3.1North American An assembly of the delegates of a political party to select candidates for office.

‘Utah nominates candidates for federal office at a state convention of approximately 1,500 delegates per congressional district.’

‘Congressional nominees are selected in party conventions, unless no candidate gets more than 60 percent of the vote there.’

‘With the emergence of organized political parties, the holding of a national party convention to select presidential candidates developed.’

‘Under party rules, delegates are bound to vote at the convention for the candidate under whose banner they were elected in the primaries - but only on the first ballot.’

‘If the primaries are killed in these states, the parties will use caucuses or state conventions to decide which candidate's delegates will go to the national convention.’

‘Constituency organisation will next month embark on a series of conventions to select candidates for the local elections - some time behind its competitors.’

‘Delegates are selected to the political party nominating conventions through a series of primaries and caucuses held in the winter and early spring of the election year.’

‘His announcement made at the convention to select candidates for that ballot brings the curtain down on a political career stretching back to the sixties.’

‘A national party convention of all these delegates then takes place in the summer to decide (in reality rubber stamp) the presidential candidate.’

‘And it's important to know that it came from a democratic candidate for governor, a Democratic delegate to the convention.’

‘The prize for both the Democratic and Republican candidates are some 60 percent of their conventions ' delegates.’

‘For decades, reporters have both praised and skewered candidates during political conventions.’

‘While states have different methods of choosing their delegates, most come up with their final list of delegates following state conventions in May and June.’

‘It is not a party political convention or conference.’

‘The first national party conventions, in fact, were held in Baltimore in preparation for the 1832 election.’

‘Huge as this number is, it is likely to rise even higher during the national party conventions and as election day nears.’

‘Party conferences, like American party conventions, have increasingly become stage-managed for the televised projection of the positive party image and strong leadership.’

‘In July and August the Democratic and Republican parties hold their nominating conventions.’

3.2A body set up by agreement to deal with a particular issue.

‘the convention is a UN body responsible for the regulation of sea dumping’

‘This convention dealt with issues of sustainable fishery catches and conservation of both aquatic species and habitats.’

‘The convention was forced to deal with several critical issues within the black community.’

‘The convention received a good deal of coverage at the time, but no lasting impact has been felt.’

‘A week later, the issue again overtook the convention.’

‘The main issue at the convention was ‘Americans' role in the world.’’

‘He moved to reassure the convention that the government was working to solve crises in Africa that ultimately impacted on confidence in the local economy.’

3.3historical A meeting of Parliament without a summons from the sovereign.

‘After James's convenient flight to France, only a minority in the convention parliament so much as expressed scruples about the form in which the transfer of kingship was to take place.’

‘These Conventions that later declared themselves to be Parliaments are therefore generally known by historians as 'Convention Parliaments'.’

‘The Commons request William to take over the administration of the government and to summon a convention.’

4Bridge A bid or system of bidding by which the bidder tries to convey specific information about the hand to their partner, as opposed to seeking to win the auction.

‘B.J. Herbison's Playing Pinochle page describes a variation of Single Deck Pinochle, and a detailed set of suggested bidding conventions.’

‘Create an online convention card, or many!’

‘With only 15 words allowed during an auction and just 13 cards in each suit, bridge players have invented dozens of special bids, called conventions, to describe their strength and hand patterns.’

Origin

Late Middle English (in convention (sense 3)): via Old French from Latin conventio(n-) ‘meeting, covenant’, from the verb convenire (see convene). convention (sense 1) dates from the late 18th century.